One month after a national salmonella scare, some University students have hardly changed their peanut-eating habits.

The Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Ga., was associated with a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and caused five known deaths across the United States that were all related to peanut paste and peanut butter products processed and sold by the facility. The scare prompted thousands of peanut butter product recalls.

Katie Hayes, a sophomore from Fort Valley, wrote in an e-mail interview that she “went out and bought some Ritz Cracker peanut butter snacks,” regardless of the salmonella outbreak. She said the recalls did not scare her because she is “not really a daily peanut butter eater.”

As a food science major, Hayes said she realized “that it was a serious situation and I probably should have looked more into it.”

But Rebekah Bowen was more cautious.

“When I learned about the recalls, I threw away all of the Austin peanut butter crackers that I had stashed away in my desk, which seemed really wasteful, but I decided it was better to be safe than to get sick later,” said Bowen, a junior from Garfield.

Bowen said she thinks people who threw away all their peanut butter might have taken “their so-called safety measures too far.”

“It was clearly stated in several news broadcasts and reports that the salmonella outbreak only affected peanut butter paste that is used in crackers and other more prepared products,” she said. Sophomore Austin Suggs, from Tifton, said he thought “the media did a good job of informing the public” about the salmonella outbreak, but “the media tends to turn things like this into more of a scare than it should be.”

One student wasn’t taking any chances when she heard about the recalls.

“My roommates and I threw away all of our peanut butter and refused to buy more until the situation was cleared up,” said Emily Mixson, a sophomore from Sylvania.

Grocery stores in Athens rid their shelves of recalled products.

“We were affected by the fact that nearly 2,000 items were pulled off our shelves,” Glynn Jenkins, the regional manager for the Kroger Company, said.

As Kroger stores were in complete compliance with the recalls put in place by the Food and Drug Administration, a variety of products were removed from stores, Jenkins said.

He said he felt the stores were economically affected because “once [Kroger] pulled items they weren’t being replaced,” and consumers were less likely to buy “any item that had some kind of peanut butter,” whether it was recalled or not.

Troy DeGroff, director of marketing for Earth Fare, said even natural foods had to be recalled, but none of the recalled items were Earth Fare brand.

Understanding the fear that many consumers were facing, Kroger branches started practices to keep their customers safe from contaminated products.

Jenkins said Kroger stores used automated phone systems that notified customers who bought recalled items, primarily those that were Kroger brand. He also said Kroger Plus Shopper’s Card holders could scan their card at checkout and would be notified whether a recalled product had been purchased. Jenkins said customers could return recalled products for a full refund.

Now that the hubbub surrounding Blakely has died down, Mixson said she has started buying peanut butter again, but feels that as a result of the outbreak, “[Georgia's] agricultural system is quite possibly being perceived as being negligent and unhealthy.”

Suggs said he feels that “anytime there is an outbreak that affects the public as it relates to food, agriculture is affected.”

Regardless of the outbreak, he said, “the agricultural industry in Georgia will continue to be a strong and reliable provider of goods to the people of our state, nation and world.”